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posted by on Friday March 17 2017, @05:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the better-solutions dept.

The Free Thought Project reports via AlterNet

There's one thing that appears to be saving more lives during the opioid epidemic than anything else--medical cannabis. While government touts meaningless attempts at addressing the problem--paying lip service to the people while protecting Big Pharma's profits and filling jails--people are saving themselves by turning to an ancient plant.

Yet another scientific study has confirmed that medical cannabis access reduces harm from opioid abuse among the population. A recent study published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependency journal found that states with legal medical cannabis experience fewer hospitalizations related to opioids.

"Medical marijuana legalization was associated with 23% and 13% reductions in hospitalizations related to opioid dependence or abuse and [opioid pain reliever] OPR overdose, respectively; lagged effects were observed after policy implementation."

Researchers from the University of California analyzed hospital administrative records for the period of 1997 to 2014. The author reported:

"This study demonstrated significant reductions on OPR- (opioid pain reliever) related hospitalizations associated with the implementation of medical marijuana policies. ... We found reductions in OPR-related hospitalizations immediately after the year of policy implementation as well as delayed reductions in the third post-policy year."

The data also show that cannabis-related hospitalizations did not increase after legalization, contrary to what prohibitionists would have you believe.


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  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday March 17 2017, @10:47PM

    by butthurt (6141) on Friday March 17 2017, @10:47PM (#480675) Journal

    > Michigan's largest contributions are historical. Look up the importance of the St. Lawrence river and shipping some time.

    That seems to still be of some importance:

    One of Canada’s most important transportation and trade networks, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway, is undergoing a transformation that will see more than $7-billion worth of investments by 2018.

    [...]

    The improvements come as shipping on the seaway has been soaring with cargo volumes hitting 40 million tonnes last year, the highest since the recession.

    -- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/great-lakes-st-lawrence-seaway-to-get-7-billion-facelift/article22437770/ [theglobeandmail.com]

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2